I was born after WWII but lived in a glorious but quite remote place in England. We had no car, no bathroom or hot water, no power supply and only propane gas lighting in 2 rooms, candles for the rest. We eventually had a propane gas 2 burner stove that supplemented cooking on the open fire and in the oven heated by the fire. We had dripping, rather than running, water. No telephone or TV of course! The first TV I ever saw was built by my uncle. There was one channel that broadcast only a few hours each day. With no heating other than open fires the house would be pretty cold in winter. My brother used to dare me to put my bare foot on the frosty windows so that we could look out on the winter wonderland! Baths were taken across the yard in a 'wash house' (where laundry was done). Water was heated by burning logs in a grate beneath a vat-like 'copper'. My mother made the wash house cozy with rugs on the stone floors and curtains at the windows. The bath was tin and placed on the floor. I remember our glowing faces after all that warmth and then a quick run in bathrobes and slippers through the deep snow in the yard. My father made me some snow shoes so that I could get to school though the deep snow drifts. School until I was eleven years old was about 2 miles from home. Summers were blissfully spent catching rabbits (by stalking) and trout (by tickling) though never harming them, and picnics. I wandered at will with no thought of danger and spent day after day helping our farmer neighbor with his animals or crops. My mother could see us from our windows, the old farmer and his little buddy, side by side on his tractor as he plowed, singing at the tops of our voices! Conditions were hard, the life was wonderful. Our family was close and laughter and conversation were endless. We were never bored, our home was filled with books and the outdoors provided more entertainment than we ever had time for! Happy days!

Great little birds in small groups. Some years they show up in huge flocks and gobble up all the food in no time. Some thing like Redpolls. It's all or nothing. Haven't had either this year.

That is so unique. Just the other day I was thinking about the old forum when someone,perhaps you, posted frosty pictures. My windows used to get frosty like that but I bought all new windows so don't have frost any more. Been very cold here too. See some faces in the frost. Good shots.

Here you go. This is a great article that states the problem clearly and the solutions. We have an 1890 home . The single pane windows used to really get soaking wet and indeed the sills and floors were at risk of rot. We got storm windows and have never again had any water at all on the inside of the windows. If you read the article you will see that leaking air is one cause. There is also a caution about lowering the humidity too low in your home. Good Luck. c Here is a link that might be useful: Sweating windows.